Innocence
by Avari wind seer
Summary: [Oneshot for Akiko's fanfiction contest] "The madness is coming, as it has done so many times before. It will take them, as it has taken so many others."


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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Golden Sun or Golden Sun: the Lost Age.

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"Hey, Felix, look at this!"

Jenna ran a finger over the elongated barrel of the strange object. The black metal was cool and smooth against her hand.

—

_Waiting._

_Alone so long._

_No touch of human hands to guide my lust._

_Until now._

_Slowly, I wake._

—

"What is it?"

"I don't know. They"—Jenna pointed to the two dwarves who stood nearby—"called it a 'cannon,' or something like that."

"What does it do?"

—

_Annihilation._

_The obliteration of cities, and the breaking of hearts._

_Civilizations fall . . ._

_The dreams, the memories, the visions, come back now. The horizon—my dawning—approaches._

—

The gray-bearded dwarf had overheard the conversation. "What does it do? Why, it has amazing explosive power, enough to destroy walls, like this one in front of us!" He gestured toward one of the large sandstone walls that formed the perimeter of Loho.

"If we had some kind of ammunition, we could get rid of this wall. There must be some prime digging sites behind there," said the other dwarf longingly.

"Hey, Felix," Sheba murmured. "It looks like something with enough explosive power might get it to go off . . ."

—

_The ones who stand before me . . . they have an unusual aura._

_They are strong, determined. There is no fear in their hearts._

_But there is something more . . ._

—

"What about this?"

Sheba peered critically at the stone that Garet held in his hand. It was a fist-sized chunk of red-tinted rock, much like the kind of stone commonly found in volcanoes, but it seemed a bit translucent. Sheba wondered if she was imagining the flames she thought she could see flickering inside.

"Where did you get that?"

"I picked it up in Magma Rock."

"I don't know, Garet . . . We might need that later."

"It can't hurt to try, Isaac. What do you think, Felix?"

". . . I suppose . . ."

—

_Blood._

_There is blood on their hands._

_No children, these. They have killed before._

_And yet . . ._

—

There was a soft _clunk_ as Garet slid the strange rock into the open end of the cannon.

". . . It's not doing anything . . ."

"Maybe . . . fire?"

—

_. . . Innocence. It is the only word that describes it. They are innocent._

_They are hardened, true, but they know nothing of me, or of true war._

_Pure hatred . . . they have never seen it._

_Betrayal . . . it all turned out right in the end._

_Evil . . . they have not truly known it._

—

A small flame shot down the barrel.

—

_But they shall see it all, soon. And it will break them._

_The price stands._

—

_**BOOM.**_

They threw themselves to the ground as chunks of broken sandstone rained down around them.

When the dust had cleared, they looked up. Where the tall, seemingly impenetrable wall had stood only a few minutes before, there was only rubble. Lumps of the ancient wall were strewn over the ground.

—

_Destruction._

_It is the price for this power._

_It has always been the price._

_Nothing is different. Nothing has changed._

—

"Look at that!" exclaimed the first dwarf, jumping to his feet and staring at the empty space where the wall had been. Slowly, the Adepts got to their feet and looked around, a bit dazed.

"What did you do?" asked the second dwarf suspiciously, giving them a hard stare.

Sheba smiled innocently and shrugged. "I'm not sure . . . but now you can open up a new mining site, right?"

The dwarf turned his attention newly-opened area and gazed over the rocky ground with a critical eye. "Hmm. I suppose you're right. We're bound to find some good ore _some_where." He turned to the other dwarf and began to speak rapidly in the dwarf tongue.

—

_It is the price that _they _will pay, not I._

—

"Ow!" exclaimed Garet suddenly. He reached a hand to the back of his head.

"What's wrong, Garet?" Mia, always the healer, turned her attention away from the dwarves to face the brawny Mars Adept.

Garet drew his hand away. It was damp with blood.

—

_Blood._

_It has been so long . . ._

_The seeping away of lives on the battlefield . . ._

_Dying . . ._

_The madness is coming, as it has done so many times before. It will take them, as it has taken so many others._

—

Mia frowned. She placed a hand on Garet's shoulder and chanted a few words under her breath. A blue light flashed, then faded as her healing Psynergy worked on the injury.

—

_They have innocence. But it shall not protect them._

_Because there is no other end._

—

"What happened, Garet?"

"I got hit by a rock when the wall collapsed."

"This thing is dangerous!"

—

_They will fall, as all the others have done._

_There is no escape._

—

"Hey, you guys came in the boat that's anchored on the beach, right?" The dwarf was talking to them again.

"Yes."

"Well, since you were able to break down the wall for us, we would be more than happy to give the cannon to you. We can load it on your boat for you, if you like."

Felix seemed a little distracted. ". . . What? Oh . . . that would be much appreciated."

"Anything wrong, Felix?" Isaac raised his eyebrow at their leader.

"No . . . not really."

"Oh, come on, Felix." Sheba nudged him with her elbow. "You can't fool us!"

". . . What do you think people do with cannons? This one looks pretty old; they must have been around for quite a while. But somehow I doubt that there were that many walls to knock down."

Isaac shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Not really . . ."

"You're right, though, Felix. I can't imagine why anyone would need a cannon . . . It's not like you can use it on _people,_ after all."

"That's not funny, Ivan," Sheba said absently.

"It isn't?"

"Oh, shut up."

—

_The end draws near—for them._

_For me, it is just the beginning._

—

The sunlight glinted harmlessly off the black metal. The smooth barrel gleamed with an almost luminous radiance.

—

_And so begins the loss of innocence, and the fall into the shadows._


End file.
